Sophia Jackson and the Titan's Curse
by WelshGirl4Life
Summary: Things are changing. We can feel it. There is no denying it, war is coming. The winter after the Sea of Monsters fiasco has made everyone more cautious. Especially me, Will Solace. I always felt I could do more than what people thought I was capable of doing, and that winter I could prove it. Only, I wish it had been any other way. I wish it hadn't been her... anyone but her.
1. Shall we have this Dance?

**I don't own Percy Jackson, anything you recognise belongs to Rick Riordan**

* * *

I'm sure you are all familiar with my best friend Sophia Jackson now, and are probably expecting her to be telling you this story. So I'm sure most of you are surprised to find that I am not her. Although I hope you are all as familiar with me as you are with her. We made a promise to each other this year during a quest that led us to the Sea of Monsters. If one of us were to fall, the other would jump right after them. And I'd like to say that through our journeys together, I kept that promise. And plan to do it for a long time.

My name is Will Solace. I'm sure you all know me as the devilishly handsome son of Apollo, second in command of Cabin Seven and best friend to Poseidon, God of the Sea's, only daughter, Sophia Jackson.

Before I met Sophia, people didn't expect much of me. I suppose because I was the son of Apollo everyone expected I'd only be good for archery and medicine, eventually becoming a massive player just like my father. Although now I think that they only see me as 'the sidekick', where I can't do anything without Sophia being there.

I don't really mind, but it's difficult to make a name for yourself when people expect you to only be good at one or two things. Sophia has tried to tell them differently, but most think she's being modest.

I've never told her this, but I wish I had been the one to lead previous quests, before you start calling me selfish and start ranting about how she deserved it, I know she did, but I'm not the only one who thinks they should have led the quests. I get that when we went searching for the lightning bolt she had to lead to save hers and her father's reputation, and when we went to the Sea of Monster's, even though it hadn't been her quest in the first place and she wasn't really a part of the quest, she ended up leading us, more or less at least. I know she can't help it; she's a natural born leader. You can't help but follow her.

But then I finally got a chance to prove myself, although, I wish it had been under different circumstances. I don't know how Sophia does it. And I kind of wish she had been there with me. Unfortunately when you're a demigod, even a child of Apollo, things never come easily.

* * *

Four weeks before Christmas, Chiron had called me to camp as most of the camper's left behind, including seven of my nine brothers and sisters who stayed all year, came down with a really bad case of the flu. The newest camper had come to camp just recovering from the virus and had ended up passing in on to almost everyone left behind. Being short on medics meant that Chiron and my two unaffected brothers, Lee and David, had to work overtime just to make sure everyone was taking their medicine and staying in bed. Demigods were really stubborn patients.

Luckily most were cured within the week, and things returned to normal. Well, as normal as it could be at Camp Half-Blood. Not long before winter break started officially, Chiron had asked me up to the Big House where he called Sophia and Thalia, the daughter of Zeus who had been reincarnated when we placed the Golden Fleece over her tree (long story, don't ask) separately.

Grover had called him that morning about two half-bloods he smelt on his new assignment. The fact that he thought he had found two demigods had surprised even Chiron, finding only one was rare, but two? That was unheard of.

Grover had begged Chiron for back up, he said he couldn't get them out of that school without alerting the monster that had taken to stalking them.

So Sophia's mother, Sally Jackson, had volunteered to take us to the boarding school they were staying at. Chiron called me a cab the next morning, where Sally drove us to meet Thalia at her boarding school where the dark haired daughter of Zeus sat waiting for us with her arms crossed and a frown on her face then drove us to Bar Harbour, Maine.

Snow had started to fall mid-afternoon, making the already grey day, darker. I was sat on the back seat of the Jackson's car with Thalia, trying and failing to hold in my laughter as Sally entertained us with stories of Sophia's childhood.

"Mom!" Sophia groaned from the passenger seat.

"What? You can't tell me lifting your skirt up in the park and screaming "Over here!" wasn't funny?" That made me laugh to harder.

"I was six!" Sophia protested, her face turning bright red. "You're the one who – Will! Stop laughing!"

I just laughed harder.

"I hate you," She grumbled.

"Love you to seaweed brain," I chuckled, breathing heavily. Thalia rolled her eyes.

The entire journey was spent with Sally Jackson entertaining us with Sophia's baby stories. By the time we had gotten to Maine the snow had stopped, only now there was a thick layer of snow on the ground, making Westover Hall look scarier than it might look during the day.

You could tell almost immediately that Westover Hall was a military school. The imposing building had been built from grey stone, hidden by shadows the cold night created the building looked like something from a horror film. Four tall towers at every corner of the building, with plenty of small windows that looked an awful lot like arrow slits with a set of big, heavy wooden double doors. It stood on a cliff overlooking a very dark forest that made me feel slightly nervous looking at.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait for you?" Sally asked, turning to Sophia as the car came to a stop.

"We'll be fine mom, don't worry."

"With you that's all I ever do," Sally joked, but you could tell she was still worried.

"See you later mom," Sophia smiled, leaning over to kiss her mother on the cheek before stepping out of the car, Thalia and I followed soon after.

"Thanks for the ride Ms. Jackson," I thanked before shutting the door.

"It's Sally dear," She called, rolling down a window. "Now are you sure you have everything?"

"Yes mom," Sophia sighed, starting to sound bored.

"What about weapons? Have you got plenty of Ambrosia and Nectar? Spare clothes? How will you get back? What about -"

"Mom! We'll be fine," Sophia interrupted. "We really need to get inside now, Grover will be wondering where we are."

"Oh, of course," Sally replied, looking a little bit upset. "Good luck guys."

"Thanks mom."

Sophia began walking towards the double doors, leaving Thalia and me behind by the car. We thanked her mom one more and hurried after her.

"Your mom is amazing," Thalia stated as soon as we had caught up to her.

"I know she is," She smiled. "Any idea where Grover could be?"

"Couldn't be that far," Thalia replied.

The two pushed the impressive doors open, revealing a cold, dark hallway. Weapons ranging from guns and sword were hung on the walls, battle flags and a few paintings showing various wars and battles were the only things giving the hallway colour. I could hear dance music echoing through the deserted hallway. We stashed the bags we had brought with us behind one of the statues, so that we wouldn't catch any unwanted attention carrying three overfilled big duffle bags.

"What are you three doing?" A voice spoke from the shadows, causing the three of us to jump in surprise. We spun around quickly, Sophia's hand going to her pocket and mine going to my wrist. I never asked where Thalia's spear ever came from, but she always managed to conjure it up from thin air.

"Sorry, we were just –"

"Visitors are not permitted at the dance," A man spoke up with a heavy French accent. "You must leave these premises."

A strict looking couple stepped out of the shadows dressed neatly in military-style uniforms, neither one of them had a hair out of place. The two made me wonder if one of them was the monster Grover had warned us of.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to escort you three off the premises." The woman spoke, her harsh voice cutting through me like knives.

"W-well you see..." Sophia trailed off as Thalia stepped up to stand in front of the two teachers and snapped her fingers. A gust of air brushed past us, ruffling our clothes and messing up our hair.

"But you do know Miss, Thalia, Will and Sophia," Thalia spoke confidently, keeping her eyes on the two teachers; the woman's eyes went blank while the man's held a strange spark of recognition. "We're in your class."

"Mrs. Gottschalk you know these children?" I coughed to disguise my snort, Gottschalk? He couldn't be serious.

"Yes.. I do. Thalia, Will and Sophia." The woman smiled, looking painful on her stiff face. "What are you three doing out of the gymnasium?"

Before anyone could come up with some kind of ridiculous excuse, we heard hurried footsteps coming in our direction. Grover, our half goat friend, came skidding around the corner, nearly crashing into a suit of armour.

"Mr. Underwood, what do you think you are doing?" The man barked, his face morphing into a sinister scowl.

"S-s-sorry D-Dr T-thorn, it won't happen again." Grover stuttered, paling at the sight of the imposing man.

"See to it that it doesn't," Dr. Thorn barked. "What are you doing out of the gymnasium?"

"I w-was l-l-looking for m-my f-f-friends," Grover answered, twitching under the teachers glare.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Grover, Thalia was taking forever to do her make up." The glare Thalia gave Sophia would have had me running to Hades.

"You four get to the gym, if we see you outside the gymnasium you'll be cleaning gum from under desks until the end of the school year. Is that clear?"

"Yes Mrs. Gottschalk," the four of us droned.

We quickly left the two teachers in the hallway following Grover to the gymnasium where the music was loudest.

"What did you do to them?" Sophia asked, looking at Thalia curiously. "I mean how did you make them think we went to school here?"

"The mist," The mist was the invisible shield that had been hiding our world, the mythical world of Gods and monsters, from mortal eyes. If they could see what we saw, there'd probably be mass panic; also, they'd be fighting to get the gods to fix every little problem they had. "Hasn't Chiron taught you how to do that yet?"

Thalia walked on ahead of us to talk to Grover who was leading the way to the gym, trying to hide the lip he had from wearing sneakers to hide his goat hooves.

"No, he hasn't." Sophia whispered to herself, sounding pretty disappointed that our trainer and mentor hadn't taught her with Thalia. I patted her shoulder comfortingly and caught up with Grover and Thalia, joining them in time to hear their conversation.

"So what's the big problem?" Thalia asked.

"Two demigods, powerful ones at that have been here for about two years," Grover started to explain as Sophia came to walk by my shoulder. "Unfortunately that means they've attracted a monster. Unfortunately that monster is very powerful and very dangerous."

"Any idea who the monster is?" Sophia asked.

"You just met him," Grover announced coming to a stop, looking at us with serious eyes. "The vice-principle, Dr. Thorn."

"Any idea what he is?" I asked as we continued walking.

"None, I just know it won't be easy to kill him."

"Did you know the demigods at least?" Sophia asked, looking slightly hopeful.

"Not well," He sighed, lifting the baseball cap he had taken to wearing off his head and running a hand through his brown curls, a habit he claims he picked up from Sophia and me. "They tend to stick together, only talking to others when they have to, especially the girl. Getting them out of here is going to be hard."

Reaching the gym, Grover hid his horns under his hat before we stepped into the loud room. Inside, there were steamers hanging from the ceiling and walls in an attempt to make the room look a bit attractive, multicoloured lights flashed through the room in time to the pulsing music. There was a group of boys over by a basketball hoop trying to look as invisible as possible, and watching a group of girls warily as they cornered poor boys, giggling loudly before moving on, leaving the poor boy covered in make-up and glitter.

"Do you at least know where they are?" Thalia asked, looking around the room cautiously as if something was about to jump out at us unexpectedly.

"They're over there by the bleachers," Grover nodded in the direction of the two. "Bianca and Nico di Angelo."

We looked to where he nodded and studied the two. The girl was a couple of inches taller than the boy, making me think that she was probably only a year or two older than him. She had a floppy green cap pulled down over her eyes. The two both had the same black hair and olive skin, putting aside any doubts I had if they were related or not.

The brother was shuffling a deck of cards in his hands ignoring his sister as she stood over his shoulder scolding him. The two were completely oblivious to everything around them.

"Do you think they know?" Thalia asked, looking at the two carefully.

"If they did they would have figured out what I was by now," Grover replied, looking at the three of worriedly. "You know how it is. Their sent would be stronger and they would be in a lot more if they knew."

"So how do we get them out of here?" Sophia asked, taking her attention away from the two.

"I was hoping you guys could think of something." Grover admitted, looking

"Why don't we just ask to talk to them outside, and then just tell them everything?" Thalia suggested.

"Besides the fact that I doubt they'd believe us, even if we do manage to get them outside, have you seen who's decided to join the party?"

We turned slowly, following were Grover was looking, each of us dreading to see who it was. Sure enough, Dr. Thorn was standing in the shadows, watching their every move.

"He knows," Grover whispered shakily.

"He didn't before?" I asked, rubbing a hand across the bracelet magically disguised as my golden bow that I kept safely on my right hand.

"I think he suspected," Grover admitted, watching the three. "But I don't think he really made the connection until you three showed up."

"The mist," Thalia breathed.

"So what do we do?" I asked, looking at our small group. "We can't stand here all night watching them."

"We need to blend in," Thalia decided, causing Sophia to glare at her as she had opened her mouth to speak.

"How do we do that?" Grover asked, looking at Thalia nervously.

"We dance," She announced like it was the most obvious thing ever, then she frowned. "Who chose One Direction?"

"I did," Grover said looking indigent.

"Gods Grover, haven't you ever heard of Green Day?"

"Or Fall Out Boy," I supplied, not much of a Green Day fan myself.

"Who and who?" Grover asked, looking between the two of us as if he had just stripped naked and did the cha cha.

"Never mind," Thalia groaned and grabbed his hand, dragging him onto the almost over crowded dance floor. "Come on goat boy, let's dance."

Sophia and I stood in silence awkwardly for a few seconds as we watched Thalia try and show Grover how to slow dance.

"So what now?" Sophia asked, running her hand through her now short hair. She had gotten a hair cut just before school had started so that now it came to above her shoulders. Personally, I preferred it when it was when it was down to her elbows.

"You don't go to many dances do you?" I laughed which made her blush.

"Not really," She admitted, looking down at her shoes uncomfortably.

"C'mon," I said grabbing her hand and pulling her onto the dance floor, Grover and Thalia now lost in crowd.

"I don't dance," She protested, eyes growing wide.

"Sure you can, it's easy," I promised, taking one hand in mine and placing the other on my shoulder. "Don't think about it."

We started to sway to the music, Sophia growing more confident with her movements and soon began to enjoy herself.

"Since when can you dance?" She asked finally, looking at me with a smirk.

"I'm the son of Apollo of course I can dance," I boasted with a smug grin before leaning down to whisper in her ear. "Plus my sister Diane taught me when she found out I had never stepped on a dance floor before."

She burst out laughing, gaining the attention of couples near us.

"How old were you?"

"Eleven," I admitted, shaking my head at the memory. "Not long after my birthday. There was a celebration at camp, can't remember what for really, but I was the child of Apollo not dancing. So Diane spent the next couple of weeks teaching me to dance, she almost gave up after a few day from the amount of times I stood on her feet."

"How old is Diane?"

"A year younger than us," I admitted grudgingly, Sophia laughed again. "Keep laughing, just wait till we get back to camp, I'll make sure to tell –"

"They're gone," Sophia spoke stopping suddenly.

"What?" I asked, looking over towards the bleachers where the siblings had been standing minutes before.

"The di Angelo's they're gone."

"So is Dr. Thorn," I groaned, not seeing the monster anywhere. "What do we do?"

"You go look for them and protect them as much as you can, distract Dr. Thorn for as long as you can if you have to. I'll see if I can find Thalia and Grover, if we're going to get them out of here safely we'll need them."

* * *

**A/N I'm baaaack! Did you miss me? I know this story is a little bit different but I hope you will all stay with me and I hope you will all enjoy this one as much as you did the last story. I've decided I'm not going to give deadlines of when I'm going to update, it's probably better if I didn't, so maybe I'll be updating a lot better than how I did with the Sea of Monsters and this way I'll be able to get some writing done with Lyria Potter as well. Thank you guys so much for the amazing reviews and feedback from the last story, and I hope you guys will continue being amazing with this one.**

**The poll is still up on my profile: Should Rachel have a brother?  
Yes, a twin  
Yes, an older brother  
Yes a younger brother  
No she should be an only child**

**Let me know via poll or review what you guys think.**

**Keep being amazing guys! You really are the best**

**xxxWelshGirl4Lifexxx**


	2. Dr Thorn

**I don't own Percy Jackson**

* * *

Sophia left me standing in the middle of the dance floor to go looking for Thalia and Grover. I made my way towards the bleachers where the di Angelo siblings had been not long ago, only just managing to avoid the horde of girls stalking the guys that had decided to go to the dance solo just to give them a "make-over".

I looked around for any indication of the brother and sister and, not finding anything, I took a chance and shot through the closest door before anyone had realised I had gone missing. Blinking, my eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness of the hallway compared to the bright lights of the gym. I decided not to risk turning into a "Human glow-sick" as Sophia had taken to calling me, Dr. Thorn could be anywhere and the longer I could go unnoticed the better.

There was hardly a sound in the hallway; I could hardly make out my own footsteps. I pressed up against the wall as much as I could, trying to listen out for the siblings. The hallway felt endless to me, but it was only a matter of seconds when I stopped short. A shadow quickly vanished from under one of the doorways as soon as I passed opposite it.

I carried on walking for a short while, acting as if I hadn't noticed, before quickly doubling back but this time on the other wall so that I would be able to hear anything a lot easier. I got as close as I dared to the door and only just managed to make out two voices.

"... Someone's... there,"

"... Who?"

"Dr. Thorn... not sure ... see anything,"

"Maybe... gone,"

I sighed in relief once I realised that I had found the two siblings, and that Dr. Thorn wasn't with them. Maybe it would be a lot easier to get them out of here than I thought.

Looking down the hallway once more to make sure that no one was coming, specifically a certain monster, before quickly opening the door and sliding inside. After closing the door I quickly scanned the room, looking for possible escape routes in case things went downhill.

The di Angelo's had pressed themselves into a corner of the room as soon as I had opened the door, the girl, Bianca, standing slightly in front of her brother.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I spoke softly, raising my hands in front of me as if trying to calm a spooked animal. "My name is Will Solace."

"Who are you?" Bianca asked her voice steady, although I noticed her pushing her brother back further.

"I can't explain everything here," I slowly stepped towards the two, still speaking softly. "Dr. Thorn will be back any moment; I need to get you two out of here."

"Why?" Bianca asked sharply, standing up straighter.

"Because you're in danger."

"Why should we listen to you?" Bianca lifted her chin slightly, as if challenging me to say the wrong thing.

"Because I can protect you," I said trying to sound confident, even though I wasn't too sure at that moment.

"Are you sure about that?"

The chilling, French accented voice of Dr. Thorn sent shivers down my back as if someone had poured ice water down my shirt. I closed my eyes in frustration, sending up a prayer to the gods as I felt, more than heard, Dr. Thorn move closer.

"How do you know you can protect them godling?"

"I've been training since I was ten," I protested, opening my eyes to meet Dr. Thorn's mismatched eyes, one brown and one blue, not willing to back down.

"Training isn't always enough," He whispered as he began circling me, looking me up and down as if assessing me.

"I've had experience."

"As the sidekick, never the hero," I scowled as Dr. Thorn's smirking face back into view. "Don't try to deny it, I've heard all about your little escapades with Poseidon's girl. Sophia was it?"

"Leave her out of this," I snapped, feeling the protectiveness I held for my dark haired friend rise to the surface.

"Ooh, touchy," The monster taunted, grinning smugly. "Don't you find it unfair that you, the one with the most training, has to sit back and let the new girl order everyone around?"

"It's not like she doesn't know what she's doing."

"Maybe, but aren't you always the one saving her? If I were you I'd be more than a little bit annoyed that no one gives you any credit –"

"If I wanted my name in lights they already would be." I snapped, turning to face him before he completed his circle. "I'm no one's sidekick."

"Then prove it," Dr. Thorn hissed leaning in close to my face. I clenched my jaw and fists, I couldn't do anything. I would more than likely hurt the di Angelo's if I tried anything. "I was right, you're no hero. Now, if the three of you have any sense I suggest you start walking. There's a fire exit at the end of the hall, go to it, and don't even think about running. You won't get far."

The evil grin Dr. Thorn gave us before disappearing into the shadows gave me no doubt that we were trapped, and I probably just made things a whole lot worse.

* * *

We stumbled out of the fire escape and into the freezing cold. The snow crunched loudly under our feet as we made our way through the quite forest. The shadows seemed to grow darker the further we went it, and eventually it became almost impossible for us to see anything.

"Let go," Bianca hissed to me at one point. I had grabbed the two by their arms so that they wouldn't go wandering off in the darkness, that and I really didn't trust them not to running off. At this point I seriously doubted Dr. Thorn would be very forgiving with any of us if we tried running away, and either way, I doubted we would have gotten very far.

"Not gonna happen," I replied, barley able to see her in the darkness.

"I knew you were working for him," She growled, struggling against my grip even more.

"I don't work for him," I hissed, bringing us to a stop Nico crashing into my side as I turned suddenly to face Bianca. "I'm trying to help you."

"Some job you're doing," She hissed back, I could just make out her glower as stared me down. It was then I noticed that she was only an inch or two shorter me. Pushed back the annoyance I felt at that, a lot of people were taller than lately, Sophia was taller than me for Gods sake!

"Things would be a lot better if you actually worked with me," I snapped.

"Well I would if you actually told us who you were!"

"I told you I can't say."

"Why?"

"Because you'll be in more danger than you already are!" I shouted, getting fed up that this girl wouldn't even listen to me.

"If I were you, I'd listen to Mr. Solace," The dreaded French accent drawled. "As the son of Apollo he is prone to knowing what will happen before they do."

"What did you call him?" Bianca asked looking between me and Dr. Thorn, sounding a lot more than confused. "Who are you people?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Dr. Thorn taunted, stepping closer to us, making the three of us back away from him.

"Figure what out?" Bianca asked again, her voice becoming shrill.

"I'm disappointed," He cooed. "I thought you were a lot smarter than that."

"Why do you want them in the first place?" I asked, trying to take the attention off Bianca as we still continued to walk backwards.

"I'm afraid the general has given me strict orders not to tell you anything," Dr. Thorn sighed as if that disappointed him.

"Who?" I asked, no quite sure if I heard right.

"The general. You need not know more than that," He snapped.

"I think you find I do."

"If you wish to know, then look into the future," He snapped, his blue and brown eyes hardening.

I quickly grabbed Nico's arm again as he stumbled, we were still walking backwards so we didn't have much knowledge of where we were going.

"What are you talking about?" Bianca asked, bring the attention to her. "Psychics don't exist!"

"I'm not a psychic," I assured her before answering Dr. Thorn. "And I can't see the future."

"Oooh," He started in fake sympathy. "A son of Apollo who can't see the future?"

"Why do you keep calling him that?" Bianca asked, making herself known again. I admired her bravery, but at this moment it would have been better if she had kept her mouth shut.

"You'll find out soon enough," The monster assured her. "But if I were you, I'd stop walking, unless of course you'd like to fall to your deaths."

The three of us quickly looked down behind us and sure enough, without us knowing we had come to the edge of a cliff. I gulped as I looked down at the dark, sea water that was currently attacking the cliff face violently. I stepped forward.

"I see the rumours about you're fear of water are true," Dr. Thorn taunted, I still kept my eyes on the cliff edge afraid if I turned away from it, it would suddenly be a lot closer to me than it was. I really didn't think falling into the sea would be a very good idea at that moment. "So little hero, what are you going to do now?"

* * *

**A/N Merry Christmas guys! Sorry this is so short but I really wanted to update today. I promise the next chapter will be longer.**

**The poll is still up so if anyone is interested please don't hesitate to vote, I hope you all have had a fab day, hopefully I'll update soon with an even longer chapter.**

**Till then**

**xxxWelshGirl4Lifexxx**


	3. The moment the world stops moving

**I don't own Percy Jackson**

* * *

"Who are you?" Bianca asked quietly, turning to look at me after Dr. Thorn had settled himself up against a tree; his eyes closed looking as though he was asleep.

Thorn had asked (more like demanded), that we didn't say anything, and instead we were to wait in silence.

"_Wait for what?" _Nico had asked, trying to sound strong only to have his voice betray him as it shook with his nerves. But either way I found it a brave thing for him to do, Dr. Thorn obviously wasn't in the best of moods to be questioned.

"_Our ride," _Dr. Thorn had hissed, his eyes narrowing dangerously. _"Now shut up you insolent child, I wish to wait in silence."_

So waited in silence we did, until Bianca spoke up less than a minute later.

"You're really not going to let that go are you?" I asked jokingly, turning my head slightly to look at the girl but still managing to keep an eye on Thorn. Bianca's face held a serious expression as she looked at me, clearly not in a joking mood. "My name is Will Solace."

"Yeah that much we got," She snapped, looking at me pointedly. "But who _are _you?"

I looked between Bianca's serious expression and Nico's expectant one. I was stuck in the middle of the two, and I doubted they would believe any lie I'd come up with. Eventually I sighed.

"My name is Will Solace, and I'm the son of Apollo," I looked back towards Dr. Thorn, trying to see any sign that he had heard me.

"Who?" I looked back to Bianca who was looking blankly at me.

"Apollo, God of the Sun, Music, Medicine, Prophecy ect. ect."

"Really?" Nico spoke up excitedly. "Wow that is so cool!"

"Don't be ridiculous, he's lying!" I didn't say anything, just continued to look at Dr. Thorn. "You are lying right?"

"Wish I was," I grumbled. Thunder rumbled overhead, I looked up at the sky apologetically "Not that I'm not proud or anything, but life would be a heck of a lot easier if I wasn't."

"You're crazy, you know that right? There's no such thing as gods!" Thunder rumbled overhead at Bianca's outburst.

"Be careful of what you say," I warned, looking between her and the sky worriedly. "But gods do exist, I can't say much about the crazy thing, but they do exist. I've also met them. I helped my friend stop World War Three and ended up meeting them."

"Wow! How did you do that?" Nico spoke excitedly from beside me.

"Long story," I sighed, smiling slightly as I thought back to my first quest. "But I'll tell you sometime when we get to camp."

"Don't encourage him!" Bianca snapped, glaring at me. "And stop lying to us, why won't you tell us who you are, how can we believe that you're protecting us if you won't even tell us the truth?"

"I'm not lying!" I argued, looking towards her trying not to get annoyed with her constant insistence. "You two are like me, you're demigods. I doubt you're my father's children, but you are someone's. You're mortal parent, the parent you were raised with, who were they? You're mother of your father?"

"I-I don't know," Bianca whispered. "Before the school year started our parents lawyer brought us here. When we told her we didn't have any money to pay for our tuition she said it was already paid for by the trust fund our parents left us. I can't remember much before then."

"Are you sure you don't know?" I asked, feeling sorry for them when Bianca shook her head. "Great, that makes things so much easier."

"So, what's plan?" Bianca whispered expectantly.

"Still working on it," I whispered back, looking around for anything that could help us, but coming up empty handed.

"Some protector you are," She grumbled, looking down at the ground in disappointed.

"My friends will be here soon," I said, trying to reassure her.

"How soon?" Bianca asked, looking at me skeptically.

I didn't answer; instead I kept an eye on Dr. Thorn who was looking as if he was fast asleep. I spun my bracelet around my wrist thoughtfully. Maybe if I could manage to shoot him, we'd be able to get out of here before this "ride" came and whoever it might bring with it. That way we'd be able to meet up with Sophia, Thalia and Grover and be on our way back to camp in no time.

"Couldn't we just leave?" Bianca asked, looking at Thorn warily. "He looks like he's asleep."

"We wouldn't get far, besides, I think I have an idea," I announced finally, still keeping my voice as a low whisper.

"You think?" Bianca hissed back, looking mildly concerned. "Have you actually thought it through?"

"Not completely," I admitted, stepping away from the two and moving as closely as I dared to the monster.

I slipped the bracelet off my wrist and tightened my hold against the grip of my bow as it appeared in my hand, the familiar golden weapon gave me a small amount of comfort, the faint glow the weapon gave casted an eerie glow through the clearing. I drew an arrow from the quiver that automatically appeared on my back every time I removed my bracelet. I knelt to my knees as I took aim towards Thorn's head. Releasing my breath, I released the arrow.

A soft thunk and the sound of wood breaking was the only thing heard as my arrow making contact with the tree Dr. Thorn had been leaning against, only, Dr. Thorn had now vanished.

"You really think I'd be easily defeated?" The accented voice asked. "You're going to have to do a lot more than that if you want to kill me."

"Show yourself!" I ordered, my voice sounding throughout the clearing as I stood to my feet and turned in a circle.

My eyes passed briefly over the di Angelo's, Nico had crept closer to Bianca since I stepped away from them and now the two now stood watching me with a mixture of amazement, confusion and a small amount of terror, as if I was suddenly going to turn my bow on them.

"You want me to show myself?" Dr. Thorn called, I spun in a circle trying to find any sign of the monster, but he had hidden himself well. "Very well young demigod, I'll show myself."

Mist seemed to rise from the clearing floor as the monster emerged from the shadows, hiding his full body from our sights, the only part of him I could see were his glowing eyes, both still blue and brown respectably.

"What are you?" I leveled my at him, trying to see through the mist that had risen around us. He didn't answer me. "What are you?"

Something behind him rose above the mist, in the darkness I couldn't work out what exactly so for the first time that night, I finally decided to use one of the few powers I inherited from my father. I concentrated the sun, which at that moment had yet to rise. I concentrated on its light, on its heat, on the power I felt surging through me whenever it was visible, I felt the comfort it usually gave me whenever I was having a bad day. Dimly at first, my skin began to glow. Steadily, my light began to light up the clearing until there was enough to break through the mist.

I stepped back quickly, a gasp escaping my lips as I lowered my bow in surprise and the light I had created disappeared, whatever I had been expecting it was definitely not the creature that was in front of me. The creature still had Dr. Thorn's face, but now his body was replaced with that of a lions. What had risen behind him had been his tail, which now closely resembled a scorpion's, its point gleaming with the poison I knew it held. I had been lucky to have only seen the monster in books; hardly anyone had ever lived after facing him. And now I knew our chances were even slimmer than before. I wouldn't be able to get Bianca and Nico out of here safely without the others and we were running out of time. The Manticore wouldn't be an easy foe to kill.

"Surprise," Dr. Thorn hissed, his voice sounding a heck of a lot darker now that I knew what he was.

"I've had better surprises," I joked weakly as his tail rose higher, the point aimed directly at.

The manticore gave a terrifying growl and leapt at me. In light of things, I hadn't been acting all that smart that night. Instead of moving out of the way, I froze. My feet felt as though someone had glued them to the ground. When out of nowhere, something knocked into the manticore midair, causing him to stumble, his claws only just missing me. Unfortunately, his tail managed to nick my shoulder as he spun past me.

Groaning in pain, I clutched my shoulder tightly with one hand while the other still held my bow my arrow still unfired. I looked around the clearing floor for what had slowed the Manticore down. A feeling of relief surged through me when I saw a familiar bronze shield lying in the snow not too far away from me.

"Stay away from him," A voice called out. The voice belonging to the one person who managed to save my butt every time we did something dangerous.

The manticore growled at Sophia who had stepped into the clearing not long after I recognized her shield (Her Cyclops half-brother Tyson - long story, don't ask - had sent it to her as a birthday present this summer. It was one of her prized possessions), her sea green eyes sparkled dangerously, the wind whipped her dark hair around her face, her sword riptide - also known as Anaklusmos - was raised in front of her, ready for the next attack. It was at that moment that I realized with a start how beautiful she looked, which was weird since she was my best friend, and wasn't meant to look beautiful to me at all. Not that she wasn't attractive; she was just my best friend. She was just like another sister, wasn't she?

Before I could even waste time thinking about it, the manticore shot towards Sophia. I didn't even get a chance to raise my bow when Thalia came screaming out of the brush, spear raised and the most horrifying shield I have ever seen held in front of her. Thalia's shield had been modeled around her father Zeus' very own shield Aegis, an imprint of Medusa's head at the shields center the reason of my horror.

Thalia threw her spear at the manticore, only for the spear head to shatter against the monster's body.

"You really think I'd be that easy to defeat girl?" The manticore growled, crouching down ready to pounce at Thalia.

If the daughter of Zeus was scared she didn't show it. Instead she reached into her combat boots and pulled out a knife brandishing it in front of her confidently.

"Bring it!"

The manticore leapt at her. Thalia only just managed to avoid him powerful jaws by rolling away from him and came to a stop beside Sophia, the two of the joining forces against the manticore.

"Are you okay?" Grover asked coming to my side, I hadn't even heard him come up to me.

"Yeah I'm fine," I answered breathlessly, keeping an eye on the fight in front of me as I kept a tight grip on my shoulder. "Manticore poison isn't meant to kill, only meant to cause its victim serious pain. I'll be fine for now."

"You don't look it," He pressed, looking at my bad shoulder worriedly.

"I've had worse," I muttered, finally releasing my shoulder.

I rolled my shoulder to test just how bad it actually was, and bit back a cry as a searing amount of pain pulsed though me. I lifted my bow and aimed towards the monster in the middle of a fight between two of the best fighters I know (Although the Ares cabin believe differently), only to find that my arm was shaking so badly I couldn't get a good enough shot.

"I might hit the girls," I sighed, lowering my bow with a grunt as my shoulder twanged in pain.

"That wouldn't be good," Grover remarked.

"You think," I went to tell him to get the di Angelo's out of here while the manticore was distracted when the thrum of engines reverberated through the clearing.

The fighting trio came to a stop and looked over towards the cliff where the noise seemed to be coming from. Bianca and Nico, who still stood by the cliff edge, crept away from the edge looking frightened as a military helicopter began to raise, the power behind the blades whipping our hair into our faces and causing snow and dirt to blow into our eyes.

"Well, Mr. and Miss. di Angelo, looks like you're ride is here," Thorn the manticore smirked.

Just then, a hunting horn sounding through the clearing. The strong sound echoed through the trees, and drowned out the noise of the helicopter's blades.

"No," Dr. Thorn whispered, the smirk instantly wiped off of his face. "Not them. No!"

A silver arrow flew through the trees and imbedded itself in the monster's shoulder, he roared out in pain. The manticore looked towards the di Angelo's, who were still stepping away from the helicopter, with a frenzied look on his face.

"Run!" I screamed at them.

At that moment everything seemed to slow down, like one of those really intense scenes in an action movie where everything is blowing up around the hero and everything becomes muted. That's what it felt like to me. My own voice seemed far away to me. I could clearly hear my heart beat above the whirring of the helicopter blades, which were now slowly becoming louder as the machine flew further and further away from all the mayhem happening on the cliff top.

My feet started to move before I even realized it. I was running towards the di Angelo's as fast as I could, praying to every deity I knew, real or not, that I would reach them before Dr. Thorn did. I was vaguely aware of girls yelling, a mixture of shouts of anger and taunts. Silver arrows, spears and knives whizzed past me as they missed their target, although from Dr. Thorn's cries of pain I figured that some made their mark.

_'Hunter's of Artemis' _A small voice at the back of my head answered the unasked question. A small part of me was relieved that they had came; the rest of me on the other hand was wishing they had come sooner. It would have made things a heck of a lot easier.

Reaching the di Angelo's I grabbed the two of them by their arms and practically threw them out of the way of the rampaging manticore. My hands had barely left the brother and sister's arms when I was pushed onto my stomach myself. I only just had enough time to roll over to see Sophia standing above me before a blackish object decorated with multiple silver weapons rammed into her, sending Sophia and the manticore over the cliff edge and down to the depths below.

My heart stopped. I ran towards the cliff edge planning to throw myself over the side after them, only a pair of arms stopped me. I could hear someone yelling, and for a moment I didn't even realize that someone was me.

"Will, she's gone, you have to calm down," Grover, he was the one holding me back.

"No, she's alive, she's not gone," I struggled against his hold, trying to get closer to the edge.

"I know she is, I know she's alive," Grover murmured soothingly, tightening his arms around me. "I can feel it, she's not dead. I can feel it."

It took me a moment, but I remember that Sophia and Grover shared an empathy link. If Sophia had died then so would have Grover, as long as he was standing I knew she was alive at the least.

"William," A gentle, almost melodic voice broke through haze that had grown over my eyes. "I can tell you with certainty that Sophia is no longer here in Maine. You would gain nothing but you're own death by jumping off this cliff."

"How can she just disappear?" I whispered, breathing heavily from my struggle with Grover.

"I am not sure."

I finally tore my eyes from the cliff edge to look at who had spoken, from the group of girls that had appeared way too late for my taste's one stood out. Despite the silver glow all the girls had, one girl was glowing slightly brighter. The young girl, maybe twelve, was standing slightly in front of the rest. Auburn hair framed a round face, and silvery yellow eyes peered at me, looking almost sympathetic as she took in my appearance. She leant almost casually on her bow, although from the stiffness of her stance I knew that if threatened, that bow would be drawn faster than I could blink.

"Who are you?" I asked finally, my curiosity getting the better of me. The woman smiled.

"How dare you speak to my lady like that boy!" One girl growled, stepping out of the crowd she levelled her armed bow at me, her glare almost sent me running for Tartarus.

"Zoë," The girl soothed, placing what I assumed to be a soothing hand on the girl's arm forcing her to lower her bow. "He meant no harm. He is grieving, I'm sure I can cope with _one _act of disrespect in moments like this."

She emphasized the number one and if daring me to try and be rude again, I didn't take the risk. She levelled her moon like eyes at me, making me feel as if she were dissecting every inch of me for every weakness I had.

"My name is Artemis," She said finally, her voice now radiating with power. "But you might know me as Aunty."

Then, for this first time in my life, I actually realized that the Goddess of the Hunt, who perhaps had the biggest grudge against men that ever existed, was my aunt.

* * *

**A/N Hey guys! Here's the next chapter as promised. Considering my reputation when it comes to updating this is actually an accomplishment. It didn't take me a month to post a chapter for a change! You have no idea how proud I am. I'll admit I am a little nervous about this chapter, so if there's anything that need's improving (bedside's grammar and spelling cos' those are a lost cause anyway) let me know because I feel as though I've made the chapter a little bit more dramatic than needed and I may have brought Will's feeling's to the surface, although he still doesn't realise he likes Sophia, a little to soon so if that's the case let me know and I'll remember that for future chapters.**

**Also, I recently noticed a mistake I made in one of the early chapter's of the Sea of Monster's where Colchis Bull's are attacking camp, I mentioned an OC I had created called 'David'. You probably don't remember by this point, but as I'm going to be bringing him back, his name is meant to be 'Daniel'. I mentioned him in the Lightning Thief as 'Daniel' but for some reason I changed it to 'David' Sea of Monsters. So if you did notice and still remember, I'm very sorry for the confusion and it will be changed eventually. And if you didn't realised or have forgotten, never mind now you know. If none of you noticed, then I really have no reason for saying this. But just to clear it for future chapters it's Daniel, not David.**

**Also to Interested Puppy, thank you for the continued support and for the help you gave me when I was writing this chapter. And to EkatDaughterOfHestia, thank you so much for designing Artemis' hunting outfit I love it! If you guy's want to check it out the link will be posted on my profile very soon, if it isn't there already.**

**Again the Poll is still up, I'll be taking it down in two chapter's time, which if I'm a good girl and I manage to finish my English homework in time will hopefully be up next Saturday. I'm going to warn you now though, I got a laptop for Christmas which unfortunately doesn't have Word on it yet so I have to make do with WordPad, which means I'm moving between computer's for spelling and grammar mistakes. I know there is a spell checker here on Fanfiction but why do it the easy way?**

**Until text time**

**xxxWelshGirl4Lifexxx**


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